Ten years in China - Haas Food Machinery anniversary

In a move to engage the company more comprehensively in the vast Chinese market, Haas Food Machinery was established in Shanghai ten years ago. On occasion of the anniversary in 2016, Andreas Schoch, General Manager and Tao Kan, China Sales Director of Haas Food Machinery (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. share some insights on the company's development in the past decade.

"Haas Food Machinery (Shanghai) Co., Ltd is a member of the family-owned Haas Group, which is based near Vienna, Austria. We manufacture customized lines for the production of a large variety of bakery products including wafers, wafer sticks and biscuits. We also offer aerating equipment for the bakery, dairy and confectionery industries. In recognition of the opportunities and potential in China for Haas, we established Haas Food Machinery in Shanghai ten years ago. From here, we supply equipment to the domestic market as well as other parts of Asia and Africa,"

Haas Food Machinery's General Manager, Andreas Schoch explains. "Thanks to our competitive offers, efficient and prompt delivery, and reliable service, we have been very successful in establishing ourselves in the market. Our state-of-the-art technology has also forwarded the overall development of the Chinese baking industry. Maintaining a branch in Shanghai has enabled us to become even closer to the market than in previous decades," he points out.

In the increasingly affluent Chinese market, interest in western-style bakery and confectionery products continues to grow. Better quality and more variety are in demand and Haas can adapt and respond to this development by supplying suitable technology. "Our R&D spans a time period of five to ten years, constantly seeking to upgrade existing technology and to continuously develop process improvements. A good example is the better energy efficiency and the reduced energy consumption of our industrial ovens. We can even decrease or avoid the emission of carbon dioxide. Compared with similar machines from competitors, carbon emissions from our equipment are the lowest," Andreas Schoch points out.

Haas is accustomed to meeting challenges. In China, our customers aim to increase their annual capacity by five to fifteen percent while needing to reduce their energy consumption by ten to fifteen percent. To meet a requirement of this scale, both energy efficiency and productivity need considerable improvement. All baking processes are complex, and many factors - from raw material utilization to waste avoidance - need to be observed in order to reduce total investment cost. Haas can provide solutions in such scenarios. After all, Haas is a leader in innovation. Three years ago, Haas launched the Spider intelligent monitoring system, which is suitable for all Haas equipment. The system automatically collects complete information and data from the entire production line, listing energy and material consumption, downtimes and much more. With this system, production managers can monitor the operation of their plants at any time.

"In China, a big challenge is that the average product lifetime is very short. Consumers have high expectations for rapid new product launches," adds Tao Kan. "From biscuits and wafers to croissants, there is always new market interest. In my experience, I would anticipate particular growth in two product categories: fresh bakery products and long shelf-life products. I see great potential in new shapes, designs and flavors. We also see the trend of changing from fried to baked foods, i.e. in view of health concerns."

"Our target for China is to be the leader in the bakery industry. We are customer-oriented. We understand our customers' requirements and provide superior, tailor-made machines and turn-key lines. I am confident that Haas Food Machinery will be instrumental in guiding and assisting our partners for the next mutually successful decade," Andreas Schoch concludes.